Mi ission  Work 
in  Cuba 


“Bv 

Dev.  'David  W.  Carter 

Havana,  Cuba 


♦ 


‘ Hoard  of  l Missions 
e "Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South 
tNfasliville,  Heim. 


4 


MISSION  WORK  IN  CUBA. 


War  has  swept  away  the  barriers  which  for  centuries  have  stood  in  the  way 
of  liberty,  enlightenment,  and  progress,  and  opened  the  way  for  the  admit¬ 
tance  of  those  forces  which  must  work  in  the  moral  and  material  regeneration 
of  the  island.  Let  us  hope  that  its  dread  work  is  forever  done  here,  and  as  its 
din  and  smoke  clear  away  we  may  take  a  view  of  present  conditions  and  infer 
therefrom  what  are  Cuba’s  needs  and  prospects. 

One  of  the  first  things  the  United  States  government  did  was  to  take  the  cen¬ 
sus  of  the  island.  That  census  was  a  revelation  even  to  those  who  were  able  to 
make  a  fair  estimate  of  the  conditions  here  existing.  It  is  the  strongest  in¬ 
dictment  of  Romanism  that  could  be  furnished.  The  population  of  Cuba  is  i,- 
597,797,  with  55  2, 928  of  school  age.  Of  this  number,  only  49,414  were  attending 
school  when  the  enumeration  was  made.  Of  the  entire  population  of  the  island, 
only  1,958  persons  were  reported  as  having  a  “superior  education.’’  Two- 
thirds  of  the  population  of  Cuba  are  illiterate.  Only  nine  per  cent  of  the  pop¬ 
ulation  of  Cuba  is  foreign  born,  and  only  thirty-two  per  cent  are  negroes  and  per¬ 
sons  having  negro  blood  in  their  veins.  This  is  one  of  the  surprises  of  the  Cu¬ 
ban  census,  the  popular  idea  being  that  Cuba  is  a  negro  country.  Such  is  not 
the  case.  The  army  of  native-born  illiterate  white  people  rise  up  to  condemn 
Romanism  and  the  Spanish  government. 

The  most  degrading  fact  revealed  by  this  Cuban  census  is  the  fact  that  only 
twenty-four  per  cent  of  the  adult  population  is  married.  Outside  the  city  of 
Havana  the  per  cent  falls  below  that  figure.  In  Pinar  del  Rio  Province  it  is  fif¬ 
teen  per  cent ;  in  Mantanzas  it  is  thirteen  per  cent,  and  in  Santiago  only 
twelve  per  cent  have  ever  been  lawfully  married.  This  reveals  the  fact  that  a 
very  large  majority  of  the  adult  population  are  living  together  by  mutual  con¬ 
sent  without  any  legal  marriage  ever  having  united  them  as  husband  and  wife. 
This  degrading  and  disgraceful  state  of  things  is  chargeable  directly  to  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church,  the  fees  exacted  by  the  priests  being  such  that  the  poor 
could  not  pay  them.  The  state  of  morals  brought  about  by  the  facts  mentioned 
can  more  properly  be  imagined  than  described.  By  recent  legislation  by  the 
military  government  marriage  is  made  easier,  and  all  duly  ordained  ministers 
may  perform  the  ceremony.  The  monopoly  of  the  priests  has  been  destroyed, 
and  the  public  morals  will  be  improved.  None  of  our  missionaries  will  exact 
fees  for  the  marriage  ceremony. 


MISSION  WORN  IN  CUBA. 


5 


Cuba’s  illiteracy  and  marital  immorality  are  to  be  charged  up  against  Roman¬ 
ism;  but  charging  up  things  to  Romanism,  long  and  black  as  the  list  is,  is  not 
the  remedy  for  Cuba’s  sad  condition.  Patient  and  aggressive  work  is  urgently 
needed.  There  are  many  adversaries,  but  the  great  and  effectual  door  is  open, 
and  no  man  can  close  it.  The  regenerating  forces  have  entered,  and  they  will 
not  turn  back  upon  their  course.  Ret  us  take  some  account  of  those  forces. 

Many  as  are  the  faults  of  particular  military  men,  sad  as  is  the  lack  of  Chris¬ 
tian  fidelity  on  the  part  of  thousands  of  soldiers  and  their  officers,  it  is  never¬ 
theless  true  that  the  military  government  of  intervention  has  been  of  incalcu¬ 
lable  benefit  to  the  Cuban  people.  It  has  been  strong,  steady,  and  clean.  The 
only  scandal  that  has  disgraced  the  American  Administration  of  Cuban  affairs 
was  in  a  department  not  under  military  control.  The  post  office  department 
was  under  civil  control.  The  culprits  are  in  disgrace,  and  await  their  trial. 

The  military  governor,  Gen.  Leonard  Wood,  gives  in  a  very  succinct  form 
some  of  the  many  things  already  accomplished  under  his  administration  and 
that  of  his  predecessor.  In  a  recent  interview,  he  said: 

“Under  the  head  of  hospitals  and  charities  it  will  be  found  that  every  town 
of  consequence  in  the  island  has  been  provided  with  a  hospital  well  equipped 
with  all  necessary  supplies  and  appliances. 

Asylums  for  orphan  children  have  been  established  wherever  necessary.  It 
is  the  purpose  of  the  insular  government  to  establish  four  state  institutions:  two 
for  boys  and  two  for  girls;  two  to  be  industrial  and  agricultural,  and  two  to  be 
correctional  and  industrial. 

The  prisons  have  been  overhauled  and  repaired  from  one  end  of  the  island  to 
the  other,  and  the  sanitary  conditions  greatly  improved.  The  military  govern¬ 
ment  has  had  its  agents  go  over  the  island,  investigating  every  case  under  de¬ 
tention  :  and  many  hundreds  of  prisoners  who  have  been  detained  for  long  pe¬ 
riods  of  time  awaiting  trial  have  been  released,  only  such  being  released,  how¬ 
ever,  as  had  awaited  trial  for  a  period  as  long  or  longer  than  they  would  have 
been  sentenced  had  they  been  found  guilty. 

Judges  who  have  been  found  derelict  have  been  summarily  dismissed,  and 
every  effort  is  being  made  to  impress  on  the  community  at  large  that  individual 
rights  and  individual  liberty  are  the  foundation  of  every  good  and  stable  gov¬ 
ernment.  Correctional  courts  have  been  established  throughout  the  larger 


6 


MISSION  WORK  IN  CUBA. 


cities,  where  the  trial  is  oral  and  summary,  as  in  our  police  courts.  Their  suc¬ 
cess  has  been  phenomenal:  and,  while  opposed  at  first,  every  town  is  now  anx¬ 
ious  to  have  one,  and  orders  have  already  been  published  establishing  many 
more.  The  writ  of  habeas  corpus  has  been  published  to  take  effect  on  Decem¬ 
ber  i,  1900. 

During  the  present  year  over  three  thousand  public  schools  have  been  estab¬ 
lished,  thirty-six  hundred  teachers  have  been  employed  in  them,  and  one  hun¬ 
dred  and  fifty  thousand  pupils  are  in  the  schools.  This  number  is  constantly 
increasing,  and  by  the  end  of  the  present  school  year  it  is  believed  that  we  shall 
have  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  children  in  school.  The  largest  number 
at  school  under  Spanish  rule  was  between  twenty-six  and  thirty  thousand. 

The  United  States  troops  have  not  been  used  during  the  present  year  for  the 
maintenance  of  order.  The  police  work  in  the  rural  districts  is  done  by  the  ru¬ 
ral  guard,  which  amounts  to  about  twelve  hundred  men  for  the  entire  island  of 
Cuba.  These  men  and  their  officers  are  all  Cubans. 

Sanitary  work  of  great  importance  has  been  carried  on  from  one  end  of  Cuba 
to  the  other.  The  two  eastern  provinces  in  the  island  of  Cuba  for  the  first 
time  have  passed  through  a  summer  without  a  case  of  yellow  fever,  and  in 
general  there  has  been  a  great  improvement  in  health  throughout  the  island. 
Plans  in  detail  are  now  ready  for  advertisement  for  paving  and  sewering  in  a 
thoroughly  first-class  and  modern  manner  the  city  of  Havana,  and  its  suburbs, 
and  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  in  a  few  years  yellow  fever  in  Cuba 
can  be  got  under  the  same  control  as  now  exists  in  Jamaica. 

A  thoroughly  efficient  mail  service  has  been  established,  and  is  being  con¬ 
ducted  with  efficiency  and  economy.  The  financial  condition  of  the  country 
is  excellent.  The  government  is  entirely  self-supporting,  and  the  treasury 
has  an  unincumbered  balance  of  a  million  and  a  half  dollars. 

The  tobacco  crop  of  last  year  was  an  immense  one.  This  year  the  sugar  crop 
will  be  between  550,000  and  600,000  tons,  and  if  the  present  prices  continue  the 
money  obtained  by  the  planters  will  equal  the  amount  received  by  the  plant¬ 
ers  for  their  great  crop  of  a  million  tons.  The  value  of  this  year’s  crop  of  su¬ 
gar  and  the  coming  tobacco  crop  will  be  conservatively  one  hundred  million 
dollars. 

The  condition  of  the  people  of  the  island,  to  the  best  of  my  knowledge  and 


MISSION  WORK  IN  CUBA. 


7 


belief,  is  one  of  content,  and  they  realize  that  wonderful  progret  has  been 
made,  and  they  feel  as  a  people  kindly  toward  and  have  faith  in  the  people  of 
the  United  States.” 

The  length  of  this  quotation  must  be  excused  by  its  importance.  The  work 
Gen.  Wood  is  doing  is  of  immense  importance  to  Cuba.  It  is  truly  mission¬ 
ary  work.  He  is  dealing  in  a  large  and  unselfish  way  with  the  problems  of 
the  new  era;  he  is  giving  the  future  rulers  of  the  island  a  most  valuable  les¬ 
son  of  unselfish  devotion  to  duty,  of  intelligent  study  of  actual  conditions,  of 
active  and  industrious  personal  participation  in  the  hard  work  of  the  govern¬ 
ment,  and  of  unostentatious  simplicity  in  his  style  of  life.  He  has  been  seen 
taking  a  morning  drive  near  the  city  with  Mrs.  Wood  only  in  the  carriage  with 
him  and  entirely  unattended.  Sometimes  he  held  the  lines,  and  sometimes 
she  did.  If  simplicity,  industry,  and  approachableness  are  valuable  in  a  ruler; 
it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  example  of  Gen.  Wood  may  tell  on  the  future  rulers 
of  Cuba. 

Our  mission  work  is  moving  steadily  forward.  At  Santiago,  under  Brother 
Someillan,  there  is  constant  growth.  Besides  his  central  congregation,  with 
an  average  attendance  of  two  hundred,  he  has  five  Sunday  schools  at  other 
points  in  the  city  with  a  total  enrollment  of  two  hundred  and  fifty-six  schol' 
ars.  At  Cienfuegos  Brother  H.  W.  Penny  has  built  up  a  large  congregation 
and  Sunday  school.  Brother  J.  D.  Lewis  is  building  up  a  day  school  for  boys 
and  girls  with  good  success  and  brightening  prospects.  New  desks  paid  for 
by  the  school,  will  soon  be  put  in  his  school  room.  Brother  Penny  has 
nearly  completed  a  small  chapel  at  the  town  of  Caunao,  near  Cienfuegos,  at  a 
cost  of  less  than  five  hundred  dollars.  The  lot  was  given  by  a  Cuban  lady,  and 
valuable  help  was  rendered  by  other  friends,  both  Cuban  and  American.  The 
lumber  was  donated  by  Gen.  Jackson,  of  Mobile;  the  duties  were  remitted  by 
the  government,  and  the  United  States  army  wagons  hauled  it  to  the  site  free 
of  charge. 

At  Matanzas  Brother  H.  W.  Baker  is  hard  at  work  on  what  will  be,  when  fin¬ 
ished,  an  elegant  stone  church,  one  that  will  be  worthy  the  second  city  of 
Cuba.  It  is  a  somewhat  discouraging  fact,  however,  that  this  building  is  cost¬ 
ing  us  nearly  twfice  as  much  as  we  expected.  Like  everything  else  in  Cuba, 
building  is  unreansonably  expensive.  The  congregation  and  school  are  grow- 


8 


MISSION  WORK  IN  CUBA. 


iug  in  Our  great  problem  is  Havana.  Nothing  can  be  done  in  a 

small  way  or  on  a  cheap  scale.  A  large  sum  of  money  will  be  required  to 
properly  house  our  work,  and  until  we  are  housed  we  can  do  little  telling 
work.  In  the  city  proper  in  our  hired  house  we  have  a  good  English-speak¬ 
ing  congregation  and  a  very  fair  Spanish  organization.  Both  are  at  present 
under  the  care  of  Rev.  George  N.  MacDonell,  whose  faithful,  spiritual  preach¬ 
ing  is  doing  great  good.  In  the  same  building  is  the  day  school  under  the 
care  of  Rev.  Thad  E.  Leland.  He  has  made  a  fine  reputation  as  a  teacher;  and 
his  school  is  growing.  His  sister,  Miss  Gertrude  Leland,  has  just  arrived  to 
assist  him  in  the  ever-increasing  work  he  is  doing. 

The  Woman’s  Board  schools  at  Matanzas  and  Havana  have  opened  hope¬ 
fully.  At  the  latter  place,  in  the  beautiful  residence  suburb  of  Vedado,  a 
school  has  just  been  opened  with  Miss  Hattie  G.  Carson  in  charge,  assisted  by 
three  accomplished  ladies:  Miss  Marcia  Marvin,  who  has  had  a  long  experi¬ 
ence  in  mission  work  in  Brazil  and  Florida;  Misses  Cessora  and  Ford  are  both 
graduates  of  the  Kansas  City  Training  School,  and  take  hold  of  their  new 
tasks  with  earnest  purpose  and  prayers  for  success. 

At  Santa  Clara  our  work  has  been  greatly  hindered.  It  was  there,  in  the 
family  of  Brother  W.  E.  Sewell,  who  lives  in  the  mission  chapel,  that  J.  D.  Lewis 
had  the  yellow  fever.  That  stopped  all  work  for  nearly  six  weeks,  and  to¬ 
gether  with  the  defection  of  the  native  helper  completely  demoralized  that 
work,  but  it  begins  slowly  to  grow  again,  and  when  properly  strengthened 
will  take  on  new  life.  I  am  confident  the  coming  annual  meeting  will  show 
growth  and  advancement  along  all  lines. 


